A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 8, 2003 Coalition Calls For Fair Livestock/Poultry Markets WASHINGTON, D.C A broad based coalition of cattle, hog, poultry, consumer, rural, and other groups are asking Con gress to take seven specific steps to address market concentration, restore livestock market competi tion, and impart fairness in agri cultural production and market ing contracts. A letter signed by 127 organizations was recently delivered to members of Con gress. The letter describes the dis mal condition of today’s markets and presents a blueprint for strengthening the vitally impor tant livestock and poultry pro duction sectors. As a blueprint for remedying the anticompetitive forces preva lent in today’s livestock and poultry markets, the groups are asking Congress to enact the fol lowing legislation that was intro duced but not passed during the last congressional session: • Ban on ownership of live stock by the biggest packers; • Producer Protection Act to establish minimum contract stan dards; • Transparency/minirmim open market bill to prevent open, competitive markets from com pletely disappearing; • Captive Supply Reform Act to make livestock marketing con tracts open and competitive; • Clarify the meaning of undue New Farmers Break Ground: New York Project Nurtures Immigrant Farmers Adam Matthews Cornell Small Farms Program The U.S. has long been the land of opportunity, as well as the land of the farmer. The tradi tion continues today in New York with new immigrant farm ers from six different countries in Central and South America. Al though these new immigrants come from countries and cultures with vast agricultural experience, they face new challenges - when they relocate. In the U.S., immi grant farmers must overcome the same obstacles as all other farm ers while adjusting to a new country and culture. Now in its third year, Cornell Cooperative Extension of New York City’s New Farmer Devel opment Project has been helping new farmers overcome the chal lenges of getting started in farm ing. This collaborative program between CUCE-NYC, Green market-CUNY and the NYS De partment of Agricul ture and Markets was developed to encour age a new generation of skilled farmers to farm the land in downstate New York. The program works to increase each produc er’s ability to supply New York City and the region’s farmers’ market system by fa cilitating the entry of ethnically diverse indi viduals into sustain able agriculture. The New Farmer Development Project recruits individuals in terested in becoming independent farmers and/or working in farm-related jobs, with an emphasis on man agement, , not farm labor. The program only accepts individu als who have previous farming experience and who are interested in direct (market-ori ented) production, but preferences to clarify that prefer ential pricing is justified only for real differences in product value or actual and quantifiable differ ences in acquisition and transac tion costs; • Close the poultry loopholes in the Packers & Stockyards Act to give USDA the authority to bring administrative actions against poultry dealers; and • Bargaining rights for con tract producers to close loopholes in the Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 and to require pro cessors to bargain in good faith with producer organizations. The coalition is encouraged by the introduction of the prohibi tion against packer ownership of livestock and the livestock and poultry arbitration bills in the Senate on the first day of the 108th Congress. The groups hope and expect that legislation ad dressing all of the issues refer enced in their letter will soon be re-introduced in the new Con gress, and urge their prompt and full consideration by the House and Senate agriculture commit tees and other committees of ju risdiction. “Our country’s farmers and ranchers are asking for nothing more than a fair market and a competitive share of the $9OO bil lion that consumers insert into the food and agriculture economy who lack the necessary business expertise to run a successful farm. The project consists of a pre season series of training sessions, called “La Nueva Siembra”, con ducted at cooperative extension offices in Manhattan. During the growing season, participants uti lize demonstration plots in Staten Island, Far Rockaway, and Asto ria, Queens. The Astoria site, known as the Phoenix Triangle, is operated in cooperation with Goodwill Industries. A new site will be added this year in Long Island City, Queens, under the sponsorship of Silver Cup Studi os. At each site, participants are trained in raising produce and are assisted with marketing through the NYC Greenmarkets farmers’ markets. Last year, 25 residents from New York City and surrounding counties participated in the proj ect workshops and hands-on in struction. Fifteen fully-attended HEATMOR OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACES Wood-Oil & Corn-Burning Options Outback Heating Inc. 888-763-8617 800-743-5883 Stainless Steel Jamestown, NY Staunton,VA Hoober Honors Customers At Banquet HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The farm equipment company Hoober, Inc. hosted a customer appreciation banquet this week at the new Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. About 750 customers from Hoober’s Intercourse and McAlisterville stores attended. Pictured above, from left, are Charlie and Sally Hoober, owners; Tom Yohe, director and Farm Show exhibition coordinator; John Phipps, award winning columnist with Farm Journal and Top Producer magazines, keynote speak er for the evening; Sandy Hershey of the McAlisterville store; Daryl Peifer, sales manager; and Brad Hershey, store manager at McAlisterville. annually,” the letter concluded. Kathy Lawrence of the Nation al Campaign for Sustainable Ag riculture, a member of the coali tion, said, “The diversity of the organizations signed on to this sessions covered all aspects of production important to new farmers, including what to expect the first year, marketing strate gies, transport options, selecting farmers’ markets, and niche and ethnic markets. Some partici pants also completed a certificate “Short Course” in Hydroponics. In its second growing season, the New Farmer Development Project conducted another series of IS pre-season training sessions for 25 new farmers. Land was prepared in Long Island City for use by participants interested in demonstration plots. These new sites allowed participants to avoid long-distance weekly com mutes to work out-of-town plots. The success of the program is already beginning to be seen. One participant leased land in Up state New York, and is marketing eggs and pro- duce at farmers’ markets in Tribeca and elsewhere 5 Sizes - 19 Colors - Wood or Coal Grates Forced Draft - Ash Auger Clean Out COMPARISON WITH OTHER OUTDOOR UNITS • Burns up to 1/2 less wood • Emits up to 1/2 less smoke • Corrosion Warranty up to 10 times longer letter reflects how important is sues related to competition and concentration are to farm and ranch families, their commu nities, the economy, the environ ment, and consumers. The unity in New York City. Others have taken positions, working with local farmers as managers, or with farmers at the market to as sist with sales. “Everyone benefits from this program,” said Norma Brenes, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of New York City. “The farmers get the information and resources they need to become successful, Greenmarket is able to expand and enrich their present farmers’ market operations, and consum ers have a dependable source of locally grown and ‘exotic’ fruits and vegetables.” The promise of developing new farmers can be seen in the work of similar programs in Massachu setts and Minnesota. As the number of new immi grant farmers continues to grow, programs like the New Farmer Randall G. Renninger Certified Public Accountant Specializing in agriculture and construction industries “We help business people discover ways to cut costs, save taxes, and be more profitable” Call about our FREE seminars 535 W. 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Development Project will help ensure the success of a new generation of Americans. “I think we’re beginning to see the renaissance of the American small farm,” said Joanna Green, senior extension associate with Cornell University’s Small Farms Program. “New immigrant farm ers are going to be an increasing ly important part of that renais sance.” For more information about the New Farmer Development Project, contact Norma Brenes at NYC-CCE, (212) 340-2950, or HYPERLINK “mailto:nbl l@cornell.edu” nbll@comell.edu. For information on a variety of small farm topics, visit Cornell’s Small Farms Web Site at HY PERLINK “http:// www.smallfarms.cornell.edu” www.smallfarms.comell.edu. - For Men Oniy!
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